In this week’s roundup of telecoms news, we’ll take a look at the state of 5G rollouts globally, a new telecoms acquisition that should improve rural connectivity in Spain, as well as a major leak for the Pixel 6 lineup ahead of its October 19th launch date.
5G connections to exceed 2.1 billion by 2025
Analysts at Bain & Company have suggested that the number of 5G connected devices will surge from 700m today to 2.1bn by 2025.
They are suggesting that the first 7 years of 5G (2018-2025) will see more widespread adoption than that of 4G in its first 7 years. This is driven by 3 main factors:
- The appetite for data in today’s connected world is much larger than it was in 2009 when 4G was launched. We’ve also seen more developing nations come online.
- Mobile operators are investing heavily into 5G infrastructure, perhaps due to the success of 4G rollouts
- The use cases for low latency, high speed 5G have become more prevalent, from autonomous driving vehicles and robots to connected smart homes.
Ardian Infrastructure to buy Adamo Telecom
Ardian Infrastructure has agreed a deal with EQT to purchase Spanish telecom firm Adamo Telecom. Adamo currently serves around 1.8m homes, with a primary focus on rural, underserved areas.
This represents Ardian’s first investment in the telecoms space and they plan to help Adamo with ambitious expansion plans to bridge the digital gap in rural areas.
We’ve spoken about this a lot. But, it’s well known that our rural communities here in the UK are underserved too. With the importance of the internet to modern life, this divide between internet service in urban vs rural areas has become a glaring issue. We could use more operators like Adamo with a focus on serving our rural communities.
465 operators investing in 5G networks globally
In more positive news for 5G, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) have reported excellent growth in the number of operators investing in 5G globally. Currently, they note there are 180 commercial 5G services across 72 countries or territories globally. This is bolstered by a whopping 465 operators in 139 markets that have invested in 5G deployments, trials and tests.
Pixel 6 Leaks
Finally, we take a look at the Pixel 6 which is scheduled to be announced on October 19th at the Pixel Launch event. Here we will see the all new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro. It seems some details may have been leaked by Carphone Warehouse who accidentally released a sales page detailing features of the 2 devices.
It seems both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will look to continue Google’s dominance of the smartphone camera market. With all new 50mp sensors that will capture 150% more light. The devices will also feature a magic eraser feature to enable users to remove unwanted objects or people from a scene with just a tap.
On top of this, there has been much speculation as to what Google’s in-house Tensor chip will do for performance. The leaked page claims the new chip will make the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 pro up to 80% faster than the Pixel 5, while improving battery performance.
The prices were not leaked. Although, it’s rumoured the devices will retail for £599 and £799 respectively in the UK.
